Device for stacking sheet metal and the like



June 2, 1931. J. H. YOUNG ETAL 1,307,815

DEVICE FOR STACKING SHEET IETAL AND" THE' LIKE Original Filed Aug. 4; 1925 Patented June 2, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Jenn H. Young AND vvrnnu'n qr. FRINK, or MIDDLETOWN, NEW YORK, AssIGNons T EHE'BORDEN COMPANY; or NEW YORK; N; Y.-, A eonronerron or new JERSEY times see sme ma SHEET METAL' AND THE, LIKE Original a tiicatitnfiled August 4; 1926, Serial at, 126,990. Divided and this application filed August 19;

1927. Serial invention relates to an improvement in devices for stackin sheets of metal er the like, and more stacking body blafnks for" tin cans in an upright hopper; The present application is a divisibn of our cope'n" ing application Serial No. 1265990, filed August 4, 1926'.

When 8 eetsf of metal'siich as tin plate or other relatively heavy flexible' material' are fed into the t'tppe'r end or a tertitauy arranged hdp'per orifia azine from a point 10 cate'd to one sideef and above the top end of the Happen it has been found thatt'he de: .sce'ndiii" sheets tend to vibratewhich ir'n V pedes t eir e'scent and ptop'er positioning upoit the p'i-Ie of sheets in the lower part of the trap er; I This is especiall the case where the 'sheets are fed into the hopper in rapid present inverttion is to prevent this vibration of the sheets as they descend in the hopper bytem'porarily arresting them at the uppermost-p rt of the hopper; and then releasing them so that they will drop flatwise and thereby properly stack upin the lidp'per. To this end the invention consists in the impidved sheet stacking device hereinafterdescribed and particularly pointed out in the a pended claims.

In" the a'ccdmpany ing dtawings illustrating the preferred form of the invention; Fig; 1 1s a top plan of the imbrovedsheet stacking deviee, and showing its connection with a machine for butting the body'blanks and a conveyer for delivering the blanks to the "stacking device; Fig; 2 isa side'elevation of the parts shown in 1'; Fig. 3' is a per-- spective view of the upper-part of the hopper and of the devices for arresting the body blanks,- and showing the uppfer end of the coriveyer for delivering the body blanks into the hopper; and Fig. 4'is..a verticaltlongitudinal sectionthrough the upper part of the hopper.

As describedin our said application the cutters 5 operate to cut sheets of tin, plate into body blanks in the usual manner-,'aiid the members 6 in conjunction with the conveyer 7 p'etate to turn over each alternate body blank so that the burrs on the, lateral edges of all the blanks will point in the same direc particularly to devices for ti'oh to facilitate subsequent stacking and proper delivery to the can forming machine. The construction and mode of operation of these parts are full described in said application. The upper; body blank earrying sec tions of the conveyer 7 travel in a c'lireetion from left to right, vieiving 1 and 2 and deliver the body blanks onto the lower endsof the obliquely arranged COnVey'er chains 8 by Which the body blanks are eleva ed into position to be discharged into the upper end of the open top hopper 9. The upper ends of the conveyer chains 8 pass over the sprockets 10 mounted on the shaft 11 journal-ed in the brackets 12 supported from the uprights The lower ends of the oonveyer chains past over the sprockets 14 fixed on the shaft 15' journaled in the brackets 16 supported from the uprights 17. The upper sections of the chains 8' rest on the rails 18 supported fr'oir'i the uprights 13 and 17, and the lateral Walls or guides 19 are provided to prevent the f placement ofthe body blanks from the chains 8. In order that the blanks may not slip back- Wards during their elevation to the point at which they are discharged into the hopper the chains 8 are provided at intervals with the lugs 20. The conveyer chains 8 are driven by a chain 22 the upper end of which passes over a sprocket fixed on the shaft 11 and the lower end of which passes over a sprocket 23 fixed on the outer end of the shaft 24 on which the sprocket Wheels 25 for the forward ends of the conveyer chains 7 are mounted. The coiiveyer chains 7 aredriv'eu by the shaft 26' connected with the actuating mechanism for the cutters As the body blanks slide offthe discharge ends of the conveyer chains 7 they pass onto the lower or re ceiving end of the conveyer chains 8 and the lugs 20 serve to elevate them to the point from which they are discharged into the open upper end of the hopper 9'.

The hopper or magazine 9 is a vertically arranged receptacle provided with rectangularly arranged Walls rising from. a table 28 supported by the uprights 29. To assure proper delivery of the body blanks from the discharge end of the conveyer chains into the open upper end of the hopper 9, rotating disks are located between the discharge ends of the conveyor chains 8 and the upper end of the hopper. The disks 30 are mounted on a shaft 31 journaled in the forward ends of the brackets 12. The shaft 31 is driven at a higher rate of speed than the shaft 11 by means of a. chain 32 which passes over a sprocket 33 mounted on the shaft 11 and over a sprocket mounted on the shaft 31 which is smaller than the sprocket 33 by which the chain 32 is driven. The action of the rotating disks 30 is to throw the body blanks forward into the open upper end of the hopper 9 on an oblique plane.

In order that the body blanks delivered into the open upper end of the hopper 9 may descend therein in such fashion as to pile up in an evenly and properly arranged stack, the body blanks are caught and temporarily held at a point near the upper end of the hopper until they come to rest in a horizontal position. They are then released and permitted to fall in their horizontal position onto the stack of blanks in the hopper, thereby assuring a. stack with all the blanks properly positioned therein. The means for temporarily arresting the body blanks in their descent into the hopper comprises a pair of arms t 5 mounted to oscillate in the upper open ends 36 of the end walls 37 of the hopper. The lower ends of the arms project inwardly at 38 to provide supports on which the ends of the body blanks are adapted to rest until they assume a horizontal position. The arms 35 are fixed at their upper ends on the shafts 40 journaled in the bearings 41 formed in the upper ends of the sidewalls 3'? of the hopper. The inner end of each shaft 40 is offset laterally and carries a cam roll 42. The cam rolls 4-2 are engaged by the cams 43 mounted on the outer ends of the shaft 31. So long as the peripheries of the cams 4:3 concentric with the shaft 31 are in engagement with the cam rolls 42 the arms are held inwardly in their body blank supporting position. This len gth of time is suiiicient to permit each blank to come to rest in a horizontal position before it is released and permitted to descend from the point of arrestation onto the stack of blanks 45 in the hopper. To swing the arms 35 out wardly to release the body blanks, each shaft 40 is provided with a torsion spring 46 operative to swing its corr sponding arm 35 outwardly when the notch or depression 47 in its corresponding cam 43 moves opposite its cam roll 42. One end of each torsion spring 46 is fixed to its shaft 40 and the other end is fixed in the adjacent bearing 4:1- To prevent body blanks thrown forward by the rotating disks 30 from passing beyond the upper end of the front wall 49 of the hopper, the stops 50 are provided, the upper ends of which are broken off in Fig. 3 to show the parts behind them.

The body blanks may be taken one at a time from the open lower end 51 of the hopper and fed into the body forming machine by means of an apparatus generally indicated at 52 in Fig. 2, the construction and mode of opera tion of which is described in Patent 1,218,034, dated March 6, 1917.

Having thus described the invention What we claim as new is 2- 1. A sheet stacking device comprising, a hopper consisting of vertically arranged walls providing a receptacle having an open upper end adapted to receive sheets delivered one at a time into the hopper, holding means pivotally mounted in the upper end of the hopper for catching each sheet as it descends in the hopper, and cam actuated means for turning the holding means to release the sheet held thereby and for returning the holding means into initial position.

2'. A sheet stacking device comprising, a hopper consisting of vertically arranged walls providing a receptacle open at its upper end, means located above and to one side of the upper end of the hopper for delivering sheets into the hopper, sheet holding members movably located in the upper end of the hopper and arranged to catch a sheet as it descends in the hopper and bring it to rest, and means for actuating the sheet holding members to release the sheet to permit it to descend by gravity from the point at which it is arrested into the lower part of the hopper. said actuating means returning the sheet holding members into and maintaining them in initial position until the next sheet is to be released.

3. A sheet stacking device comprising, a hopper consisting of vertically arranged walls providing a receptacle having an open upper end adapted to receive sheets delivered one at a. time into the hopper, a pair of sheet holding members movably mounted on the upper part of a pair of oppositely disposed walls of the hopper for catching a sheet as it descends in the hopper and bringing it to rest in substantially horizontal position, and means for moving the holding members outwardly from under the sheet to permit the sheet to descend from the point of arrestation into the lower part of the hopper, said means acting to return the holding members into sheet receiving posit-ion and maintaining them in such position until the next sheet is to be released.

4. A sheet stacking device comprising, a vertically arranged hopper open at its upper end adapted to receive sheets delivered one at a time into the hopper, a pair of sheet holding members pivotally mounted on the upper part of a pair of oppositely disposed walls of the hopper for catching a sheet as it descends in the hopper and bringing it to rest in a substantially horizontal position, and means for swinging the members outwardly to permit the sheet to descend by can JOHN H. YOUNG. 1 WILBUR G. FRINK. 

